Tiersen has been honing his musical aesthetic since he could stand on two legs. He started learning piano at the age of four, taking up violin at the age of six and receiving classical training at musical academies in Rennes, Nantes and Boulogne. Then, at the age of 13, he chose to alter his destiny, breaking his violin into pieces, buying a guitar and forming a rock band.
Yann Tiersen has collaborated with vocal artists like Claire Pichet ("Le phare" and "Rue des cascades"), Elizabeth Fraser ("Les retrouvailles") and Shannon Wright ("Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright"). Other musicians he has worked with include The Divine Comedy, Noir Désir, Dominique A., Francoiz Breut, Les Têtes Raides, The Married Monk and Sage Francis
Tiersen got a musical education from the city of Rennes' annual Transmusicales festival, seeing acts like Nirvana, Einstürzende Neubaten, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Cramps, Television and Suicide. When his band broke up a few years later, instead of hunting for some new musicians, he bought a cheap mixing desk, an eight-track reel, and started recording music solo with a synth, sampler and drum machine, poring over the grooves of old records on the hunt for loops and orchestral strings to plunder.
As it turned out, though, the key to his new approach lay in his own past. "One day I thought, instead of spending days on research and listening to tons of records to find the nearest sound of what I have in mind, why don't I fix this fucking violin and use it?" Through the summer of 1993, Tiersen stayed in his apartment, recording music alone with guitar, violin and accordion, guided not by the classical canon, but by intuition and his vision of "a musical anarchy".
By the end of the summer of 1993, Tiersen had recorded over 40 tracks, which would form the bulk of his first two albums. 1995's La Valse Des Monstres, inspired by Tod Browning's Freaks and Yukio Mishima's The Damask Drum was the second album to be released on Nancy-based label Ici, d'ailleurs. It would be followed six months later by Rue Des Cascades, a collection of short pieces recorded with toy piano, harpsichord, violin, accordion and mandolin. Six years later, the record would find a much larger audience when several tracks, along with a couple of Tiersen originals, would be used on the soundtrack to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amelie (2001).
Tiersen's commercial breakthrough would come earlier, though, and off his own back. 1998's Le Phare (The Light House) was recorded in self-imposed seclusion on the isle of Ouessant, where Tiersen spent two months living in a rented house. At night, he watched the Creach'h, the most powerful lighthouse in Europe, as it illuminated the surrounding scenery. "I was amazed how the rays of lights from the lighthouse revealed some hidden details of the land, how we can rediscover something we have everyday, just in front of us, by a light pointing on it," says Tiersen.
Le Phare went on to sell over 160,000 copies, confirming Tiersen's status as one of the most pioneering and original artists of his generation and commencing a run of successful albums like 2001's L'Absente (featuring orchestral group Synaxis, Lisa Germano and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon) and 2005's Les Retrouvailles (with guests Stuart Staples of Tindersticks, Jane Birkin and Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins). In this period, Tiersen also took his music out around the world, playing shows with a full orchestra and an amplified string quartet – a set-up captured on 2002's electrifying live album C'etait ici. And following the box-office success of Amelie, Tiersen's skills as a soundtracker were much in demand, leading to scores for the likes of Wolfgang Becker's tragicomedy Good Bye Lenin! (2003) and Tabarly (2008), a documentary about the French sailor Éric Tabarly, who ate his final meal on Ouessant Island before he meeting a watery end in the Irish sea.
Discography:
La valse des monstres (1995)
Rue des cascades (1996)
Le phare (1998)
Tout est calme (1999)
Black session (1999, radio concert)
L'absente (2001)
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001, Soundtrack)
C'était ici (2002, Live and Best Of)
Good Bye Lenin! (2003, Soundtrack)
Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright (2004)
Les Retrouvailles (2005)
On Tour (2006, Live)
Tabarly (2008)
Dust Lane (2010)
Les grandes marées
Yann Tiersen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Voyons ce qui reste
La trace des années fières, les matins qui s'étirent
Dans l'appartement clair la lumière du dehors
La descente dans la foule, réveillée de la ville
La tête haute, le regard souriant pour une fois
Le rire du buraliste devant nos mines radieuses
Le retour, l'escalier, la cuisine et la chambre
Les sabordages en règle et l'haleine trop chargée
Puis la peur de savoir que l'on est responsable
De l'enlisement des lieux, ton visage un peu pâle
Les journées qui s'endorment et puis le manque d'essence
Pour oser dépasser les trahisons d'hier
Laissons ça aux marées de septembre et voyons après coup
Voyons ce qui reste
Et voyons après coup
Voyons ce qu'il en reste
The lyrics in Yann Tiersen's song Les Grandes Marees depict a reflective and contemplative tone about moving on from the past and what remains in the aftermath. The first line “Laissons ça aux marées de septembre” (Let's leave that to the tides of September) suggests a willingness to let go and allow time to heal wounds. The subsequent lines express a sense of nostalgia as the singer reflects on the proud moments of past years and the beautiful mornings in their bright apartment.
The lyrics then transition into moments of leaving and detachment, with references to sabotages and responsibilities for the stagnation of places. The line “Les journées qui s'endorment et puis le manque d'essence” (The days that fall asleep and then the lack of fuel) suggests a feeling of being stuck and unable to move forward. However, the last line “Voyons ce qu'il en reste” (Let's see what is left), brings a sense of hope and curiosity about what remains and what new beginnings may come.
Overall, Les Grandes Marees captures the complex emotions of leaving the past behind, letting go of attachments, and finding new beginnings in the aftermath.
Line by Line Meaning
Laissons ça aux marées de septembre et voyons après coup
Let's leave that to the September tides and see afterwards. Let's wait and see what remains.
Voyons ce qui reste
Let's see what's left.
La trace des années fières, les matins qui s'étirent
Traces of proud years, mornings that stretch out.
Dans l'appartement clair la lumière du dehors
In the bright apartment, the light from outside.
La descente dans la foule, réveillée de la ville
Going down into the crowd, awakened by the city.
La tête haute, le regard souriant pour une fois
With one's head held high, a smiling gaze.
Le rire du buraliste devant nos mines radieuses
The laughter of the tobacconist before our radiant faces.
Le retour, l'escalier, la cuisine et la chambre
The return, the staircase, the kitchen, and the bedroom.
Puis l'envie de partir et les nuits, détachés
Then, the desire to leave and the detached nights.
Les sabordages en règle et l'haleine trop chargée
The regulated sinkings and the overly heavy breaths.
Puis la peur de savoir que l'on est responsable
Then, the fear of knowing that one is responsible.
De l'enlisement des lieux, ton visage un peu pâle
For the stagnation of places, your face somewhat pale.
Les journées qui s'endorment et puis le manque d'essence
The days that fall asleep and then the lack of fuel.
Pour oser dépasser les trahisons d'hier
To dare to surpass yesterday's betrayals.
Laissons ça aux marées de septembre et voyons après coup
Let's leave that to the September tides and see afterwards. Let's wait and see what remains.
Voyons ce qui reste
Let's see what's left.
Et voyons après coup
And let's see afterwards.
Voyons ce qu'il en reste
Let's see what remains.
Contributed by Ryan N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.